[asia-apec 623] Statement by ANWAR (Sept. 3)

[PAN Asia Pacific]

Thursday September 3, 6:07 am Eastern Time

TEXT-Statement by Malaysia's Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The following is a partial text of a
written statement, translated by Reuters from Bahasa Malaysia, from
the news conference on Thursday: 

``Malaysia is wrestling with a bitter challenge. The miracle economy
which was a source of pride is now more of a mirage, like a
beautiful dream. Now it is shocked by the bitter bite of reality.

The people will suffer because of the economic turmoil. Many will be
jobless. The number of poor will rise. So we have to combine our
strength and the resilience of the people to overcome the turmoil.

But believe me that the economic problem is only one of a host of
challenges which we are facing. We are faced with the problems of
politics, social, culture, moral. Every problem if left to itself
will become rotten.  All of them require attention and have to be
solved with wisdom and according to priority.

We are also faced with problems which emerged with the birth of a new
era. The economic turmoil is not the source of the suffering now,
but it is due to our failure to make adjustments to the new era.  We
have already entered the new era. The era of globalisation. The era
of information explosion. We may not be able to overcome the
challenges without making changes.

The time to launch a reformation has arrived. We must have a clear
agenda. We must also decide on the ways, methods, rhythm and pace of
reformation.  The reformation is demanded from within, not due to
external pressure. From the Islamic perspective it is in line with a
Koranic verse: ``...There is nothing that I want except to make a
success according to my ability.''

Therefore, let there not be groups who are accusing it of being an
external conspiracy. We are opposed to any conspiracy. We are
Malaysian patriots. We oppose external conspiracies. We will also
fight conspiracies from within.  We fight against external tyranny.
But we must also fight any tyranny from within the country and in
the midst of our society. It is not a question of East or West,
North or South. It is a question of justice. We must oppose tyranny,
be it from the East or from the West.

The people demand reformation. The voice of reformation is the voice of
the people. The cry of the people's hearts. But there is a small
group who are worried about the wave of reformation. They are among
those engaged in bribery, who are afraid their crimes will be
exposed. Those who abuse power and position are scared. Those
wealthy merchants who heap riches through practices of nepotism and
cronyism are like worms under the sun.

Don't be fooled and deceived by those who are afraid of the wave of
reformation. They are void of ideas, repeatedly playing old songs. They
are afraid of the new generation. Hence, they create a bogeyman to
frighten the people. Only children can be frightened by the
bogeyman. We have been independent for 41 years. As an independent
nation, we have reached adulthood.

The people need to unite in order to face the new generation. But the
unity of the people flows from the unity of the leaders. The people
stand behind the leaders. They will not scatter if their leaders do
not quarrel with one another. Solid unity cannot be obtained if the
leaders are always preaching unity, but allowing the elements that
incite them to quarrel, to roam free right in front of the people's
eyes.

Since I was appointed as Deputy President of UMNO (United Malays
National Organisation), I have always reiterated my loyalty to the
party's president. I trust in the wisdom of the UMNO members. When
they are asked to make decisions, especially at crucial moments,
they will always make wise decisions. They want stability and unity
within the party. They want the party to always be strengthened and
be given new strength through the replacement of old leaders with
new ones.`